MENTAL HEALTH & ADDICTIONS ACUTE CARE FACILITY AND LIFE SKILLS CENTRE
Hillsborough Hospital, the Island’s only psychiatric facility, is being replaced with a new, modern and fully accessible hospital, the Mental Health and Addictions Acute Care Facility and Life Skills Centre, to ensure the province is well equipped to support people in PEI in need of acute mental health, addiction and substance use care.
Background
The current Hillsborough Hospital was built in 1957 and needs to be replaced by a hospital that better meets the diverse mental health, addiction and substance use needs of people in PEI. This work includes:
- creating a welcoming and inclusive environment based on best practices and evidence;
- addressing issues of stigma in the built environment;
- improving patient safety, accessibility and privacy;
- increasing opportunities for supported learning and wellness development for clients and patients;
- increasing opportunities for local and regional research and professional education;
- sustainable energy efficiency facility design.
Service
The new hospital, the Mental Health and Addictions Acute Care Facility and Life Skills Centre, is an essential component of the Community First model for delivering mental health, addiction and substance use care across the province. This new facility will consolidate the adult acute mental health beds from the current Hillsborough Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH, Unit 9) along with the addiction/substance use withdrawal management beds from the Provincial Addictions Treatment Facility (PATF) into one new modern facility. This service will acknowledge and honour diverse cultural, social, and gender backgrounds and experiences.
The acute adult MH&A capacity at the Prince County Hospital (PCH) will be retained and enhanced as part of the new Island-wide service delivery model.
Result
- New, fully accessible facility to meet the needs of a diverse patient population with who requires acute in-patient care for mental health, addiction or substance use
- 12 space adult Mental Health Intensive Day Program (IDP)
- A Life Skills Development Centre to assist clients and patients in gaining more inclusive everyday skills and wellness development
- Professional education and research area
- Access to parklands, recreational and active transportation opportunities for enhanced health and wellness
Benefits
- A new, modern, fully accessible, Mental Health and Addiction Acute Care Facility and Life Skills Centre that provides:
- an interdisciplinary care delivery model
- enabled by supporting technologies
- facilitated by optimally designed spaces to allow the right care with access to both indoor and outdoor recreation and healing opportunities
- Improves access to care and reduces wait times
- Improves patient and client privacy and accessibility
- Supports the use of virtual medicine by implementing state-of-the-art technology
- Allows teams to work more collaboratively on patient care
- Provides a modern, state-of-the-art facility for health professionals to work in and care for patients and clients while improving the capacity to recruit and retain mental health, addiction and substance use professionals
- Improves provincial and regional mental health, addiction and substance use research and teaching opportunities
Project Status and Programming Information
Construction of the Mental Health and Addictions Acute Care Facility and Life Skills Centre will begin in early 2024 and is expected to be completed in 2027.
Who Services Are For
Individuals 18 years of age and older.
How to Access Services
Some programs and services will be self-referral, and some will require a referral from a health care provider.